


Hold Fast, Little One

by Enigma_TM



Series: Musket Shots [5]
Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: 'cause LOTS OF WHUMP 'N ANGST, But I am sticking with my headcanon, But d'Herblay Senior is not an asshole in this one, Childhood, Gen, I have finally accepted the Season 3 bombshell as canon, Kid Fic, Kid!Aramis, Kid!Musketeer, Look I love all those stories too that make him one, MuskeKid, Okay this was a rant, One Shot, Pre-Season 1, Pre-Series, Young!Aramis, Young!Musketeer, before Season 3 came crashing in my life, that I nursed for two damn years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24143527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigma_TM/pseuds/Enigma_TM
Summary: Sometimes, a fantasy is all it takes.
Relationships: Aramis & Others
Series: Musket Shots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1101615
Comments: 16
Kudos: 19





	Hold Fast, Little One

**Author's Note:**

> So this short piece is loosely based on the old Fete des Mousquetaires prompt "Infatuation" and was just...lying forgotten under my pile of WIPs. HistoryBuff1066 of fanfiction.net, if you are reading this, this one is for you. You know why :D
> 
> Shout out to venea_taur for proofreading this piece. All remaining mistakes are mine.

The shrill, feminine scream ricocheted off the walls just as Monsieur d'Herblay was about to take the first bite of his bread after a long and hard day. Two years ago, his chair would have crashed behind as he made a mad dash for the source of the cry. Now he simply made a valiant attempt at refraining himself from shaking his head and letting out a deep, audible sigh even as he heard his old mother beside him chuckle.

Any shred of hope that Monsieur d'Herblay might have held on to for a peaceful dinner was soundly annihilated as the screaming became louder, coupled with the quick pattering of little feet. Within a few moments a girl, around twelve years of age, sprinted inside the room followed immediately by a younger boy growling and waving a little cane.

"Papa! Grandmère! Help me," the girl shrieked as she made a dive for the cover behind the old woman's seat.

"No power in this world can save you, sorceress," her attacker declared.

"René, Celeste! It's too late for your antics right now," d'Herblay chided in a voice that was both firm and annoyed.

"But Papa, I was just about to go to bed when René appears out of nowhere with his stupid stick!"

"It's not a stupid stick!" René, Celeste's half-brother exclaimed, miffed at such a denigrating insult to his revered weapon. "It is the Excalibur!"

"René-," d'Herblay began but was promptly cut off by his son with, "It's Sir Lancelot du Lac, Knight of the Round Table."

D'Herblay suppressed another sigh and an accompanying eye-roll.

"And why is a chivalrous knight bent on hassling a poor, helpless girl at such an odd hour?" their grandmother questioned with poorly disguised amusement in her voice.

"Don't let her innocent face fool you! She is Morgana, the dangerous enchantress. Today I am going to rid this world of her evil and terror," René vowed as he took a step forward, 'Excalibur' gripped tightly with both hands, with all the graveness and resolution of a Crusader of yore.

"René, that is enough," d'Herblay said, his tone causing his son to pause in the proceedings of his declared mission.

"But-" the boy began, brown eyes wide and imploring, but Monsieur d'Herblay, all too experienced with his son's sly tactics, raised a hand and declared in a voice brooking no argument.

"You are going back to your room and getting a good night's sleep if you don't want to end up locked inside your room for an entire day. And I will ensure that the windows are sealed, so this time there really will be no escape for you."

In the past two years René had been living with them, d'Herblay had learnt that if there was one thing in the world that his son hated, it was being ordered around. So it was not surprising at all to observe the boy narrow his eyes into an indignant scowl and effect a rather displeased pout as the alternative offered was not particularly enticing either. After some muttered grumbling in his mother's tongue his father had long since stopped trying to decipher, he finally lowered his stick.

Celeste promptly emerged from her refuge and made her way to her brother. Taking the boy's hand in her's, she started to lead a grumbling René away. "Come on little Chevalier, let's get you to bed," she said, with a cockiness in her voice that could not be traced a minute ago.

"You won't get away next time," René warned her, even as he allowed himself to follow his sister's lead.

"You couldn't have defeated the powerful Morgana anyway. Only King Arthur can wield the Excalibur, so yours is not even real."

"I am his most loyal knight. He has entrusted me with the custody of the sword."

"But Lancelot loved Arthur's wife and betrayed him. You cannot..."

The rest of the conversation was lost as the children moved further away from the room.

This time, d'Herblay could not check the sigh and the shake of his head.

"At this rate he will be joining the military and not the Church."

"Sounds like the more exciting option to me," came the light-hearted reply from the old woman.

Her son did not look up from his meal as he quietly voiced, "I promised his mother I will see to it he becomes a priest. It was her last wish."

Silence reigned for several moments as d'Herblay continued to stare at his food while his mother took a sip of the wine coming from their own distillery.

"He is only ten," the old lady finally said. "It's all just an infatuation, a child's fancy. It will pass sooner than you will realize, Henri."

Years later, as Henri d'Herblay watched his son storm out of his house, he realized what a vain hope he had been nursing.

**Author's Note:**

> What do I know of Arthurian mythology? Nothing except for what I saw in BBC Merlin :P
> 
> Thank you for reading this! Leave a kudos or bookmark if you liked it. And please, please let me know what you think.


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